The SNP Government has been accused of treating grieving families with “contempt” after it emerged that they had a policy of deleting WhatsApp messages during the Covid pandemic.
At First Minister’s Questions, Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross said those who lost loved ones were incensed at reports that Nicola Sturgeon had destroyed messages relevant to the Covid Inquiry.
Margaret Waterton, who lost her mother and husband to the virus, described the revelation that the Scottish Government has withheld evidence as “frankly shameful”.
Jane Morrison, a member of Scottish Covid Bereaved, said: “If someone deliberately deleted stuff to avoid us getting to the truth, then morally and ethically, as well as legally, it’s totally in the wrong.”
The SNP Government were told by the Scottish Covid Inquiry “to make sure that no material of potential relevance to the Inquiry is destroyed, deleted or disposed of”.
Humza Yousaf also previously told the Scottish Parliament: “Any material that is asked for… will absolutely be handed over to the Covid inquiries and handed over to them in full.”
The First Minister refused to say whether he agreed that his predecessor would have broken the law if she’d deleted messages relevant to the inquiry, but he claimed that the Scottish Government was committed to accountability and transparency.
Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross said: “In June 2021, the Scottish Government was told to retain messages relevant to the handling of the Covid pandemic.
“But five months later, the SNP introduced a policy to destroy WhatsApp messages.
“It’s the digital equivalent of building a bonfire in the yard to torch the evidence.
“It is not for politicians to judge what is relevant, to pick and choose which messages are handed over to an inquiry. The SNP should never have brought in a policy to delete messages after they had been told to keep them.
“The SNP’s auto-delete policy means they can cherry-pick which information the UK Covid Inquiry sees.
“Crucial discussions may have been destroyed by their auto-delete policy. Any uncomfortable information may be lost, never to see the light of day.
“This secretive approach treats the Covid Inquiry and grieving families with contempt.
“The SNP Government has broken a promise to grieving families by failing to be transparent.
“Humza Yousaf must accept that Nicola Sturgeon or any government minister would be breaking the law if they have destroyed WhatsApp messages relevant to the inquiry."